Mounting of the wheels of vehicles



May 12, 1925.

1 1,537,139 W. J. RIDDELL MOUNTING OF 1111; WHEELS QF vmucws 01'iginalFiled June 14, 1920 Patented May 12, 1925.

UNITED E PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER, JosE-rn aInnELL, or NORTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA.

MOUNTING OF THE WHEELS OF VEHICLES.

Original application filed June 14, 1920, Serial No. 388,976. Dividedand this application filed October To all 107mm it may 007106771."

Be it known that I, Vanrnn Josnrrr Rmnnmi, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain and Ireland, residing at 72 Berry Street, North Sydney, inthe State of New South Wales, Commonwealth of Australia, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to the Mounting ofthe Wheels of Vehicles (for which I have obtained British Patent No.1485M), of which the following is a Specification.

The purpose of this invention is to facilitate the starting and improvethe riding qualities of wheeled vehicles, and in the case of automobilevehicles to soften the effect on the driving wheels.

The invention consists mainly in improved means for so mounting awheelof a vehicle in relation to the body thereof, that the latter isfree to move forwardly and upwardly in an are relatively to the wheelcenter under the influence of the impelling or tractive force, so thatthe wheel when temporarily lagging, is as it were pulled over the roadsurface or an obstruction thereon with consequent comparative ease andavoid ance ofshock.

The invention also consists in other novel features as will be apparentfrom the following description, and as specified in the appended claim.I

According to this invention a wheel of a, vehicle instead of beingmounted upon or in line with the vehicle axle, may be mounted upon astub axle carried on the swinging upper end of alink or crank which atits lower end is rotatably mounted upon a fixed axle.

The inventionis applicable to the driv ing and steering wheels ofautomobiles with the equally advantageous effect as regards the easyridingof the vehicle and the starting thereof.

This application is a division of my copending application for LettersPatent of the United States, filed June l l, 1920, Serial No. 388,976.

In the accompanying drawings Figs. 1 and 2 show respectively inperspective and in elevation partly in section, the application of theinvention to a steering wheel of an automobile.

Serial No. 508,557.

Referring to the drawing in which the same reference numerals are usedto indicate correspondlng parts, an axle. is indicated at 12 and a wheelat 16 mounted on a stub axle which projects from the upper swinging endof the crank 14. Said crank 14: is integral with a pin 18 rotatablymounted in a socket 19 on the lower end of a swivel pin 20 verticallymounted in the knuckle 21, and rotated therein as required by the arm 22connected to the steering mechanism (not shown) in known manner. Thenormal position of the plvot 18 is vertically below the wheel center orstub axle but when tractive or propulsive effortis applied to thevehicle body or framework as in starting the vehicle, the. pivotal axisformed by the pin 18 advances in an arc,

relatively to the wheel center and the'wheel the angle of crank and thegreater the drag ging eifect on the wheel.

As regards the enhanced ease in the riding of the vehicle, the effect ofmy means for mounting the wheels is that when a wheel meets anobstruction, the body of the ve hicle is raised in an are, instead ofvertically upwards, as is the case with the ordinary wheel mounting.

It is to be understood that I donot confine, myself to the form of theinvention herein described with reference to the accompanying drawing,as without departing from the principle of the invention, otherconstructions may be employed embodying the essential feature of thisinvention which is mounting a wheel so that its axis is free tooscillate about a pivotal point located below the wheel center, for thepurpose hereinbefore set forth and as hereinafter claimed.

That I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

In an automobile, a front axle having a loo steering knuckle the bore ofwhich is vertical, :1 vertical swivel pin in the bore of the knuckle, abearing member on the lower end of said swivel pin and the bore of.which is horizontal, a. crank having a horizontal pivot pin at its lowerend mounted in the bore of the bearing member for swinging movement ofsaid crank, a stub axle extending horizontally from the upper portion ofthe crank and arranged for the mounting of 10 a vehicle wheel thereon,and a steering arm extending from the socket member of the verticalpivot pin.

In witness whereof I alfix my signature.

ALTER JOSEPH RIDDELL.

